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The Missouri Department of Agriculture said it hopes to be able to lift its ban on
the herbicide dicamba as early as this week, a restriction it ordered after complaints
that use of the weed killer by some farmers was damaging crops in adjacent fields.

Agriculture advocates say the situation has become “a mess” for the department, which
is struggling to balance the competing interests of the makers of new formulations
of dicamba purported to reduce the problem of pesticide drift, farmers whose fields
have invested heavily in these new products, and farmers whose crops have been damaged.

“There are farmers out there who have invested $50,000 in a chemical they can’t use
right now, and the alternatives they have available aren’t that good,”
Blake Hurst, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, told Bloomberg BNA.

Hurst said while the bureau supports the temporary ban, it puts farmers who have made
a large investment in the new formulations of dicamba in a “very difficult situation.”

Herbicide makers Monsanto Co., BASF SE, and Dupont Co. told Bloomberg BNA July 10
they plan to work with the state in hopes of getting their products back in use on
Missouri farms soon.

And Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn told Bloomberg BNA July 10 through
a spokeswoman that the department hopes to be in position to lift the ban by July
14.

“We’re working with the companies to find a solution that works for all Missouri farmers.
Ultimately, it’s in the hands of the manufacturers to develop a label that works for
our state and our climate. Conversations are ongoing, and our goal is to get this
tool back in the hands of farmers this week.”

In announcing its ban July 7, the Missouri Department of Agriculture said it received
more than 130 pesticide-drift complaints since the beginning of the year believed
to be related to dicamba. The new versions are meant to be paired with versions of
soybeans and cotton that have been genetically modified to be dicamba-tolerant.

‘Until a More Permanent Solution’

Dicamba is believed to have damaged thousands of acres of crops in Missouri, the department
said.

The
ban, which also extends to the sale of dicamba by distributors and dealers, is “temporary
until a more permanent solution is reached,”
the department said.

Missouri’s action came on the same day that an Arkansas legislative committee approved
a 120-day ban on the sale and use of dicamba that had been proposed June 23 by the
Arkansas State Plant Board, also in response to widespread complaints of crop damage
from dicamba drift.

Companies Vow Cooperation

Monsanto had been sharply critical of the Arkansas action, but adopted a more restrained
tone after the ban in Missouri was announced.

“Missouri has reiterated its commitment to allow farmers to have access to technology
and this decision to issue a temporary Stop Sale, Use or Removal Order for all agricultural
uses of dicamba products in Missouri allows the State to engage in an expedited investigation
process and consider additional special local need labeling restrictions for the remainder
of the 2017 growing season,” Monsanto said. “Monsanto will actively engage in that
process and appreciates the continued collaboration with the State of Missouri.”

In a statement, Laura Svec, a spokeswoman for DuPont Crop Protection, said: “We intend
to work with the Department to help identify a solution to enable FeXapanTM [the DuPont
version of dicamba] to be used this growing season to help growers in Missouri manage
weeds.”

BASF said in a July 10 statement that it has proposed a revision of the product label
for its dicamba version that it hopes will allow the herbicide to be used again during
the current growing season.

Said the Missouri Farm Bureau’s Hurst: “I know the agriculture department sincerely
hopes to get the dicamba back out there this season, but until they do, this is a
mess.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Brown in St. Louis at
ChrisBrown@bna.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rachael Daigle at
rdaigle@bna.com

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